Richard Lippincott

Who was Richard Lippincott?

Captain Richard Lippincott, U.E. was an American-born Loyalist who served in the British army during the American War of Independence. He is best known for his part in the Asgill Affair in which he hanged an enemy officer Joshua Huddy in revenge for similar murders of Loyalists, provoking an international incident.

Lippincott was born in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. He was descended from an old colonial family, and served during the revolution as a captain in the New Jersey volunteers. He was married on March 4, 1770, to Esther Borden, daughter of Jeremiah and Esther Borden, of Bordentown, New Jersey. On the outbreak of the revolution he warmly espoused the side of the Crown, and was captured early in the war and confined in the jail at Burlington, New Jersey, from which he escaped in 1776, making his way to the British Army at Staten Island. During the remainder of the war he served with his regiment. His connection with the execution of Captain Joshua Huddy, of the rebel service, attracted a great deal of attention both in Europe and America.